Departmental Correspondence

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many  (a) letters and  (b) emails received by his Department had not been responded to as at 15 December 2008.

Tom Watson: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what percentage of contractors and suppliers to  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have reported that they are compliant with the Government's security standards following publication of the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government, and the accompanying document, Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action, on 25 June 2008;
	(2)  how many contracts  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; for which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas in the case of each such contract.

Tom Watson: The data handling report published on 25 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 25-26WS, and the cross Government minimum mandatory measures, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House, define the responsibilities for safeguarding data. These stand alongside Data Protection legislation.
	All Departments and agencies, or contractors working on their behalf, must comply with Data Protection legislation and adhere to these new arrangements. The Cabinet Office wrote to all its contractors and suppliers in September to confirm their compliance with these new arrangements and was assured that they did.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many special advisers were employed in his Department at each pay band on 30 November 2008; and what his Department's expenditure on special advisers was in 2007-08.

Tom Watson: The Government are committed to publishing an annual list detailing the number and costs of special advisers. Information for 2007-08 was published by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 99-102WS.

Bus Services: Concessions

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  which local authorities have not received sufficient funding to meet their expenditure on the national concessionary bus fares scheme in 2008-09; and how much the shortfall is in each such case;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the difference between funding and expenditure on the national concessionary bus fares scheme in  (a) England and  (b) each local authority area in 2008-09.

Paul Clark: We are confident that there is sufficient funding in total for the statutory minimum bus concession in England. The bulk of funding for concessionary travel is still given to authorities through the formula grant process (Revenue Support Grant) but it is not separately identified within that block grant. It is therefore not possible to identify how much individual authorities receive specifically for concessionary travel.
	An additional, £212 million is being provided by special grant this year solely to pay for the extension of the statutory concession to cover England-wide travel. Again, we are confident that this is sufficient in total and we consulted widely on the formula used to distribute it. Data on changes in authority expenditure caused by the new concession will not be available until autumn 2009.
	We will shortly be consulting on possible changes to how concessionary travel is administered and any changes may provide an opportunity to consider how best to distribute the totality of funding.

Departmental Freedom of Information

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 were made to his Department since 2005; how many such requests were  (a) agreed to and  (b) refused in each of those years; how many refusals were subject to appeal to the Information Commissioner in each of those years; how many appeals were successful; if he will place in the Library copies of the material subsequently provided in each case; how much was spent by his Department opposing each appeal; which (i) consultants and (ii) law firms were employed by his Department in connection with each appeal; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Justice (Mr. Wills) on 12 January 2009,  Official Report, column 507W.

Departmental Correspondence

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many  (a) letters and  (b) e-mails received by her Office had not been responded to as at 15 December 2008.

Tessa Jowell: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. Information relating to 2008 will be published as soon as it has been collated. The report for 2007 was published on 20 March 2008,  Official Report, columns 71-74WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House. When responding to all correspondence Departments should abide by the guidance as set out in 'Handling correspondence from MPs, Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies' which was published by the Cabinet office in July 2005.
	In respect of all other correspondence, we are unable to provide the information within the disproportionate cost limit (£750).

Departmental Internet

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Olympics with reference to the answer of 4 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 336-37W, on Government departments: information and communications technology, which IP addresses are used by  (a) her Office and  (b) computers in (i) her private office, (ii) the offices of its communications officials and (iii) the offices of her special advisers.

Tessa Jowell: To help defend against electronic attack, it is standard good information security practise for corporate IT systems, not to publish internal IP addresses. When accessing internet websites, the IP addresses of all of the computers on the Cabinet Office's internal office IT system are hidden behind the following IP addresses which are publicly available—195.92.40.49 and 62.25.106.209. These IP addresses are shared with other Government Departments that use the Government secure intranet.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his oral evidence to the Defence Select Committee on Tuesday 16 December 2008, what the out of service dates assumed in his Department's memorandum to the Committee for the  (a) Agusta 109,  (b) Apache AH Mk1,  (c) Gazelle AH1,  (d) Lynx Mk 7/9,  (e) Lynx Mk 3/8,  (f) Merlin Mk1,  (g) Sea King Mk 4/6c,  (h) Sea King Mk 5,  (i) Sea King ASaC 7,  (j) Chinook Mk2/2a,  (k) Merlin Mk3.3a,  (l) Puma HC1 and  (m) Sea King Mk3/3a were, set out in tabulated format; what his most recent estimate of out-of-service dates is for each model; for what reasons the out-of-service dates have changed in each case; and on what date the decisions to change date were taken.

Quentin Davies: The most recent assumed out-of-service dates for each helicopter are shown in the following table. These dates have not changed since this information was given in the MOD memorandum provided to the House of Commons Defence Committee in November 2008. Where a life extension programme is planned to extend the out of service date of a helicopter but has not yet been approved at Main Gate, the resulting extended OSD is set out in brackets.
	Any Main Gate decision to invest in the modernisation or enhancement of existing aircraft will need to be taken in a through life context, recognising the relative priorities within the whole Defence Programme.
	The proposed adjustments in our planning assumption for out-of-service dates have resulted from work conducted during the Future Rotorcraft Capability programme and the 2008 planning round.
	
		
			  Aircraft type/mark  Current planned OSDs  Comments 
			 Agusta 109 2009 It is expected these aircraft will be replaced during 2009 by four EC 365N3s 
			 Apache 2030 We expect to have to invest further in this aircraft (eg to address obsolescence and meet emerging requirements) during the next decade, in order to sustain its service life up to 2030 
			 Chinook Mk2 2015 (2040) We expect to have to invest further in these aircraft (eg to address obsolescence, meet emerging requirements and extend the planned date of their retirement to 2040) during the next decade, although no investment decisions have yet been made 
			 Chinook Mk2a 2025 (2040) As above 
			 Gazelle 2012 Where there is an enduring requirement for the capability currently provided by Gazelle we are exploring arrangements based on leased aircraft 
			 Lynx Mk3 2013 It is expected that these aircraft will be replaced by the Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft (SCMR) variant of Future Lynx from 2015 
			 Lynx Mk8 2015 As above 
			 Lynx Mk7 2013 It is expected that these aircraft will be replaced by the Battlefield Reconnaissance Helicopter (BRH) variant of Future Lynx from 2014 
			 Lynx Mk9 2013 As above 
			 Merlin Mk1 2029 We are currently preparing to upgrade these aircraft through the Merlin Mk1 Capability Sustainment Programme 
			 Merlin Mk3 2030 We expect to have to invest further in this aircraft (eg to address obsolescence and meet emerging requirements) during the next decade, in order to sustain its service life up to 2030 
			 Merlin Mk3a 2030 As above 
			 Puma 2012 (2022) We expect to have to invest further in this aircraft to extend the planned date of its retirement to 2022, when it is expected that the capability provided by these aircraft will be replaced by the Future Medium Helicopter programme 
			 Sea King Mk3/3a 2017 It is expected that the capability provided by these aircraft will be replaced by a joint PFI service with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency 
			 Sea King Mk4 2012 (2018) We expect to have to invest further in this aircraft to extend the planned date of their retirement to 2018, where upon it is expected that the capability provided by these aircraft will be replaced by the Future Medium Helicopter programme 
			 Sea King Mk6c 2010 — 
			 Sea King Mk5 2017 It is expected that the capability provided by these aircraft will be replaced by a joint PFI service with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency 
			 Sea King Mk7 2018 (2022) We expect to have to invest further in this aircraft to extend the planned date of their retirement to 2022

Water Charges

David Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations his Department has received on water drainage charges for places of worship; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Secretary of State has received a range of representations from various groups regarding surface water drainage charges. The Government are, however, very aware of the problem of affordability faced by some customers as a result of the switch to site area charging for surface water drainage and is looking at what can be done.

Asbestos: Soil Guidance Values

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on the publication of soil guidance values on asbestos.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA officials have been in regular communication with the Environment Agency about the ongoing development of contaminated land guidance. The Environment Agency have been working closely with the Health and Safety Laboratory and the Health and Safety Executive to develop guidance on the investigation and analysis of asbestos in soil which they plan to consult on in the first half of 2009. It is likely that this guidance will supersede the proposed Soil Guideline Value.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many contracts  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; for which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas in the case of each such contract.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA has no contracts which allow the contractor to store personal data of UK citizens overseas. The DEFRA Agencies have one contract which relates to the control of animal disease outbreaks and allows for personal data to be stored in the Republic of Ireland. At present, information on less than 10 individuals is so held under this contract.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many special advisers were employed in his Department at each pay band on 30 November 2008; and what his Department's total expenditure on special advisers was in 2007-08.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Government are committed to publishing an annual list detailing the number and costs of special advisers. Information for 2007-08 was published by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 99-102WS.

Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 17 November 2008,  Official Report, column 97W, on domestic waste: waste disposal, if he will publish the project specification of each of the three EU Interreg programmes listed.

Jane Kennedy: I am arranging for the information requested to be placed in the Library of the House. The Franco-British Interreg 3A programmes are the responsibility of the Government office for the south east, while the managing authority responsible for the Interreg 4A programme is the Haute Normandie Regional Council.

Floods: Housing

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2008,  Official Report, column 122W, on floods: housing, how many of the properties estimated to be at risk of flooding in each year are in each region.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Please find in the following table the estimated number of properties at the risk of flooding from rivers and the sea by Environment Agency Region.
	
		
			  Environment Agency Region  2004  2005  2006 
			 Anglian Region 307,400 314,200 317,600 
			 Midlands Region 214,300 222,300 222,400 
			 North East Region 289,200 301,600 298,100 
			 North West Region 204,600 210,000 210,900 
			 South West Region 160,600 168,700 169,100 
			 Southern Region 169,200 174,900 175,300 
			 Thames Region 711,800 734,925 736,200 
			 Environment Agency Wales 171,500 177,163 176,700 
			 Total 2,228,600 2,303,788 2,306,300 
		
	
	The Environment Agency and DEFRA did not record properties by region before 2004.
	The difference in the estimated number of properties at risk of flooding each year is mainly due to the improvements and refinements of the data and the modelling techniques used by the Environment Agency for the National Flood Risk Assessment.

Geomatics Group

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 17 November 2008,  Official Report, column 98W, on the Environment Agency, 
	(1)  what the expected  (a) turnover and  (b) profit of the Geomatics Group in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11 is; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the  (a) turnover and  (b) profit of the Geomatics Group was in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The current anticipated total turnover of the Geomatics Group is:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2008-09 4,789,000 
			 2009-10 4,330,000 
			 2010-2011 4,113,000 
		
	
	This includes work undertaken for the rest of the Environment Agency, which Geomatics makes no profit from. The level of profit on work undertaken for external customers is commercially confidential.
	The total turnover of the Geomatics Group in 2007-08 was £3,565,000.

Geomatics Group

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 17 November 2008,  Official Report, column 98W, on the Environment Agency, what proportion of the profit made by the Geomatics Group was transferred to the Environment Agency in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Geomatics Group is a business unit within the Environment Agency and therefore 100 per cent. was transferred to the Environment Agency.

Geomatics Group

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 17 November 2008,  Official Report, column 98W, on the Environment Agency, with whom the Geomatics Group held contracts from which it derived income in 2007-08, broken down by contract value; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: This information is commercially confidential, as releasing it could give a commercial advantage to other organisations.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to reply to the letter to him dated 4 November 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr A. Lane.

Joan Ruddock: Departmental reorganisation has led to delays in dealing with correspondence for which Ministers apologise. The letter is currently under consideration and a reply will be sent as soon as possible.

Creativity and Business International Network

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on  (a) travel and  (b) overnight expenses for (i) Ministers and (ii) guests attending the Creativity and Business International Network event held in Liverpool on 20 November 2008.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 11 December 2008
	The total amounts spent were as follows:
	 (a) Travel: (i) Ministers was £85 by train (ii) guests was £11,330 by air and train
	 (b) Overnight expenses: (i) Ministers was nil (ii) guests was £3,257.

Creativity and Business International Network

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on hiring the venue for the Creativity and Business International Network event held in Liverpool on 20 November 2008.

Barbara Follett: The venue costs for the Creativity and Business International Network event held in Liverpool were £5,500.

Media: Standards

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to send a substantive reply to the hon. Member for Torbay's letter of 14 July 2008 on the display of nudity in television programmes and in mainstream magazines.

Andy Burnham: The hon. Member's letter of 14 July was received in DCMS addressed to my predecessor on 17 October. I understand my noble Friend the Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting wrote to the hon. Member on the 30 November.

Swimming

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department plans to provide to each local authority to provide free swimming in the first year of the scheme's operation.

Andy Burnham: Details of Government funding to participating local authorities to provide free swimming will shortly be placed on my Department's website and in Library of both Houses.

Libya: Terrorism

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the Government has had with the Libyan government on compensation for victims of IRA terrorism involving arms originating in Libya.

Bill Rammell: The Government have taken regular soundings on Libya's position in respect of its past support for the IRA since the restoration of diplomatic relations, notably in 2004, 2006, in November 2007, and most recently through the United States in August 2008.
	In 1995, Libya accounted for its past support of the IRA to the satisfaction of the then Government. On all subsequent occasions this matter has been discussed, Libya has stressed that they believe the matter is firmly closed. It is the Government's considered assessment therefore that Libya would not be prepared to discuss a bilateral settlement of these cases.
	We will however continue to monitor the Libyan position on this issue.

Rashid Rauf

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the Prime Minister was first informed of the suspected death of Mr. Rashid Rauf following the US air strike on the village of Ali Khel on 22 November 2008.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister first learned of the suspected death of Mr. Rashid Rauf from media reporting coming out of Pakistan.

Members: Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  when he plans to reply to the letter of 10 October 2008 (reference: 3/07508/2008) from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford on Mr. Mark Osborne of Chelmsford; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply;
	(2)  when he plans to reply to the letter of 20 October 2008 from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford on Mr. Peter Vickers of Chelmsford; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply;
	(3)  when he plans to reply to the letter of 21 October 2008 (reference: 2/01979/2008) from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford on Mrs. G. Fisher of Chelmsford; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply;
	(4)  when he plans to reply to the letters of 27 October 2008 and 5 December 2008 from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford regarding Mr. M. Whitwell of Chelmsford; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply.

Ian Pearson: Due to the large volume of correspondence received on these issues there has been some delay in response. The Treasury hopes to be in a position to reply to the hon. Member shortly.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many homes have attracted the zero rate of stamp duty on zero carbon homes in each month since October 2007, broken down by stamp duty band;
	(2)  how much stamp duty relief has been claimed since October 2007 in relation to zero carbon home purchases.

Ian Pearson: The Government have set a deliberately stretching target that all new homes must be zero carbon by 2016. The stamp duty land tax relief (SDLT) for zero carbon homes was introduced to help kick-start the market for new highly efficient technologies in homes, both for the fabric of the building and in the use of microgeneration, and sets a gold standard for green homes. Few currently exist, but the purpose of the relief is to act as signal We have always made it clear that the SDLT relief for zero carbon homes would evolve and we expect to see more of these homes built in the future. Eighteen homes have qualified for the zero carbon homes relief since October 2007, broken down by month and stamp duty band as follows. The total amount of relief given since October 2007 is around £70,000.
	
		
			Band (percentage) 
			1  3  4 
			 2007 October 1 0 0 
			  November 2 0 0 
			  December 3 0 0 
			  
			 2008 January 3 0 0 
			  February 0 0 0 
			  March 1 0 0 
			  April 0 0 0 
			  May 1 1 0 
			  June 1 0 0 
			  July 1 0 0 
			  August 1 0 0 
			  September 0 0 0 
			  October 0 1 1 
			  November 0 0 0 
			  December 0 0 1

Court Orders: Compensation

Edward Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many compensation orders have been issued to offenders in each of the last five years for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the average value of a compensation order was in each of the last five years for which figures are available;
	(3)  what the total monetary value of compensation orders issued by the courts was in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what percentage of this was collected by the courts and awarded to victims in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Bridget Prentice: The available information shown in the following table shows the total number of compensation orders imposed, the average amount of those compensation orders and the total monetary value of those compensation orders in each of the last five years. Centrally held data does not cover the percentage of these orders that were subsequently collected.
	
		
			  Number of offenders ordered to pay compensation( 1) , average compensation amount and total sum of compensation orders imposed( 2) , 2003-07 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Number of offenders 120,465 123,315 131,687 137.446 165,372 
			 Average compensation amount(3 )(£) 233 203 242 265 222 
			 Sum of all compensation orders imposed (£) 34,091,595 25,032,945 31,868,254 36,423,190 36,323,584 
			 (1) This data is not based on a primary disposal basis, a court can order to pay an offender to pay compensation alongside another, e.g. as well as receiving a community sentence an offender could be ordered to pay compensation to the victim.  (2) Excludes summary motoring offences.  (3) Rounded to the nearest £.   Note:  These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.   Source:  OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice.

Court Orders: Compensation

Edward Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of compensation orders issued by the courts have  (a) not been paid at all,  (b) not been paid in full and  (c) been paid in full in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Bridget Prentice: The requested information is not held centrally. Data on the collection of compensation orders is not held by either the Ministry of Justice or HMCS. Information on the enforcement rate of financial penalties imposed by courts cannot make the distinction between compensation orders and other financial penalties.

Departmental Telephone Services

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many telephone numbers for which callers are charged at the rate applicable to 0845 numbers are used by  (a) his Department and  (b) its executive agencies for public access to services.

Michael Wills: The Department, and its agencies, use 42 0845 telephone numbers to provide a range of services to the public. These include IT support for online enquiries, customer service inquiries, contact with the jury summoning office and a small number of courts.
	The 0845 numbers were introduced because, at the time, calls from anywhere in the UK were charged at a local rate making it cheaper for people to make contact rather than using the exchange number. With the expansion of the telecommunications markets, call charges are now set by the individual phone companies, often as part of wider service packages. The charges vary, and are outside the control of the Department. Where possible, customers are also given the exchange number, as depending on the individual inquirer's telephone plane, 0845 may not now be the cheapest option.

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to publish the Government's response to the consultation on extending the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Michael Wills: The Government continues to assess the merits of designating additional public authorities under the Act and will publish its response to the section 5 public consultation by the summer.

Children in Care

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to improve the educational support and stability of life of looked-after children.

Beverley Hughes: Through the White Paper "Care Matters: Time for Change" and the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 the Government have put in place a range of measures to improve the educational support and placement stability of looked after children. This includes an annual personal education allowance of £500 for looked after children who are at risk of not reaching the expected standards of attainment.
	To ensure that looked after children get the support they need to help them achieve their potential the governing body of all maintained schools will be required to appoint a designated teacher and care leavers who undertake a course in higher education will be entitled to a bursary of £2,000.
	We are also strengthening care planning arrangements to reduce disruption to education and training as a result of changes in care placements. Through initiatives such as the Fostering Changes training programme and the Multi-dimensional Treatment Foster Care and Social Pedagogy pilots we are also taking action to help improve the range of support and skills for foster carers and residential workers to help them meet the needs of looked after children to prevent placement breakdown.

Children: Protection

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many preventable child deaths there were in 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The reviewing of all child deaths by Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) became mandatory in April 2008. We will shortly be collecting data on the number of deaths reviewed by each LSCB in 2008-09 and the number of these deaths which boards assessed as having been preventable. This data will be published in autumn 2009.

Departmental Consultants

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much has been spent on consultants by  (a) his Department and  (b) each non-departmental public body of the Department in each of the last three years, broken down by consultancy.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Consultancy expenditure for the former Department for Education and Skills for 2005-06 and 2006-07 is shown in table 1. Following the announcement of the machinery of Government change on 28 June 2007, which created the Department for Children Schools and Families, consultancy expenditure for 2007-08 for the new Department is shown in table 2.
	Consultancy expenditure can be attributed to individual suppliers only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Table 1: 2005-06 and 2006-07—Department for Education and Skills 
			  £ million 
			   Consultancy expenditure 
			 2005-06 21.5 
			 2006-07 45.1 
		
	
	A further £8 million in 2005-06 and £14 million in 2006-07 were expended on other external expert advisers on education and children's matters to assist with policy implementation and delivery.
	
		
			  Table 2: 2007-08—Department for Children Schools and Families 
			  £ million 
			   Consultancy expenditure 
			 2007-08 61.4 
		
	
	A further £10.3 million was spent on other external expert advisers.
	The Department does not hold information on consultancy expenditure for its non-departmental public bodies.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost to his Department of provision of office facilities to  (a) special advisers and  (b) press officers (i) was in the last 12 months and (ii) has been since 1997-98.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families was created on 28 June 2007. The total cost on the provision of office facilities to press officers and special advisors during the last 12 months amounted to £240,758.90.
	The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and its predecessors did not collect the information from 1997-98 onwards as requested and therefore could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

National Safeguarding Unit

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether the National Safeguarding Unit for the Third Sector has been established; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: Following a competitive tendering process the Department for Children, Schools and Families has recently awarded a contract to deliver the National Safeguarding Unit for the Third Sector. An announcement on this will be made shortly. The Unit will be established and launched by March 2009.

Ofqual: Public Appointments

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will ensure that appointments to Ofqual will be subject to select committee scrutiny in line with the proposals on page 29 of the Governance of Britain Green Paper of July 2007.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government's response to the House of Commons Liaison Committee report on Pre-appointment hearings by select committees was published in June 2008 (ref: First Special Report of Session 2007-2008 HC594). It contains a revised list of all posts that the Government consider suitable for pre-appointment hearings by parliamentary Select Committees.
	The post of chair of Ofqual, the new independent regulator of qualifications and tests which, subject to parliamentary approval will be established in the Children, Skills and Learning Bill in the current session, is included in the list.

Teenage Pregnancy

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in meeting its objectives; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what progress his Department has made against its target to reduce the under 18 conception rate by 50 per cent. by 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The latest annual data (for 2006) shows that since the 1998 baseline year, the under-18 conception rate has fallen by 12.9 per cent. to its lowest level for over 20 years. 2007 annual data will be published in February 2009.
	While I welcome the steady decline in England's teenage pregnancy rate, we need to accelerate progress if we are to achieve our challenging target to halve the under-18 conception rate by 2010. Consequently, we have issued guidance to all local authorities and PCTs, which sets out what is working in the most successful areas (some of whom have achieved reductions of over 30 per cent.) and encourages all areas to refresh their strategies to incorporate these findings.
	At a national level, our focus is on:
	close monitoring, strengthened performance management and intensive support to the most challenged areas;
	maximising the use of the additional funding for improved provision and use of effective contraception; and
	strengthened communications to young people, parents and delivery partners.

Asylum Seekers: Homelessness

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) asylum seekers and  (b) failed asylum seekers are registered as homeless in (i) Leeds and (ii) the UK.

Iain Wright: Communities and Local Government does not collect information on asylum seekers or failed asylum seekers who are homeless. Communities and Local Government collects data from all local housing authorities in England about their activities under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996), including the number of applicants accepted as statutorily homeless, but this data does not identify whether those accepted as statutorily homeless may be an asylum seeker. Asylum seekers who claimed asylum after 2 April 2000 are not eligible for assistance under the homelessness legislation; neither are failed asylum seekers.

Departmental Official Engagements

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the official engagements of  (a) the Minister for London,  (b) the Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber and  (c) the Minister for the South East in their role as regional ministers were from 1 December to 31 December 2008.

Sadiq Khan: The information requested is tabled as follows:
	
		
			  Rt Hon Tony McNulty: Minister for London 
			  Date  Outline of visit  Location 
			 1 December 2008 Speech at the London PREVENT Network Riverwalk House, Westminster 
			 4 December 2008 OSCT Regional Event on PREVENT Emmanuel Centre, Marsham Street, Westminster 
			 8 December 2008 Association of Colleges (AoC) visit Harrow College, Harrow 
			 11 December 2008 London Community Safety Partnership (LCSP) Summit New Scotland Yard, Westminster 
			 15 December 2008 Speech at Celebrating Colleges Contribution to London event House of Commons, Westminster 
			 16 December 2008 Launch of the MPS announcement on work with retailers on knife sales New Scotland Yard, Westminster 
			 18 December 2008 Visit to JTAC (Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre) Millbank, Westminster 
			 18 December 2008 Meeting with the Metropolitan Police New Scotland Yard, Westminster 
		
	
	
		
			  Rosie Winterton MP: Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber 
			  Date  Outline of visit  Location 
			 4 December 2008 Meeting with John Blevins Lead Union Learning Representative, BT/CWU Learning Centre in Northallerton London 
			 5 December 2008 Attend Regional Responses to the Economic Downturn Event Rotherham 
			 8 December 2008 Attend Yorkshire and Humber Economic Development Group Leeds 
			 10 December 2008 Attend London 2012 Yorkshire and the Humber Parliamentary briefing London 
			 12 December 2008 Attend the Association of Colleges (AoC) Yorkshire and the Humber Principals and Chairs Forum Doncaster 
			 15 December 2008 Meeting with LloydsTSB London 
		
	
	
		
			  Jonathan Shaw MP: Minister for the South East 
			  Date  Outline of visit  Location 
			 2 December 2008 Speech and discussion at "Building Blocks" housing event with Shelter, National Housing Federation and Chartered Institute of Housing London 
			 2 December 2008 Meeting with SEEDA and Kimberly-Clark Gatwick, East Sussex 
			 2 December 2008 Speech at SEEDA Regional Infrastructure dinner Gatwick, East Sussex 
			 3 December 2008 Speech at turf-cutting ceremony for Kent Innovation Centre University of Kent at Canterbury 
			 8 December 2008 Speech at Placeshaper Housing Association reception House of Commons 
			 12 December 2008 Speech at event with young people and Beijing medallists re: 2012 Wentworth, Surrey

Homelessness: West Yorkshire

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were recorded as homeless in  (a) Leeds,  (b) West Yorkshire and  (c) the UK in each of the last five years.

Iain Wright: Information about English local authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level. The Department does not hold statistics for the devolved Administrations. Local authorities within West Yorkshire are as follows; Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield.
	Data collected includes the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
	Information is also collected on the number of people who sleep rough—that is, those who are literally roofless on a single night.
	Summary tables showing the total number of households (a) accepted as owed a main homelessness duty and (b) in temporary accommodation for each year since 1997-98, and (c) rough sleeper estimates for each year since 1998, for each local authority, were provided in my answer given to the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Mr. Spring) on 26 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 1499-1500W, and are available in the Library. An extract showing data for the last five years for the local authorities within West Yorkshire is provided in the following tables:
	
		
			  Table A: Number of households accepted as owed a main homelessness duty during the year, in local authorities within West Yorkshire local council, 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Bradford 1,038 903 603 868 837 
			 Calderdale 502 (1)— 347 171 115 
			 Kirklees 1,545 1,550 1,041 800 (1)— 
			 Leeds 4,948 2,782 1,882 1,707 1,142 
			 Wakefield 459 326 (1)— 165 136 
			 England(2) 135,430 120,860 93,980 73,360 63,170 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: Number of households in temporary accommodation, in local authorities within West Yorkshire local council, March 2004-March 2008 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Bradford 47 62 64 83 90 
			 Calderdale 50 71 76 53 46 
			 Kirklees 239 259 291 203 137 
			 Leeds 748 501 502 548 401 
			 Wakefield 235 242 131 94 78 
			 England(2) 97,680 101,070 96,370 87,120 77,510 
		
	
	
		
			  Table C: Number of rough sleepers (persons), in local authorities within West Yorkshire local council, 2004-08 (mid-year estimates) 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Bradford 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Calderdale 2 0 0 0 1 
			 Kirklees 0 0 0 3 0 
			 Leeds 4 4 1 1 6 
			 Wakefield 3 3 0 0 0 
			 England 508 459 502 498 483 
			 (1 )Denotes data not reported by local authority (2 )Figures that include estimates of missing data 
		
	
	Figures for acceptances and temporary accommodation can be found in our quarterly statistical release on statutory homelessness. This is published on our website and placed in the Library each quarter. The latest release was published on 11 December 2008, and provides national and regional acceptance figures in table 3, and temporary accommodation figures in table 7, both back to 1997-98:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/840324.xls
	English rough sleeper estimates and the count guidance are published and can be found at the following web address;
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/homelessness/roughsleeping/

Travelling People: Caravan Sites

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 22 April 2008,  Official Report, column 1903W, on Travelling people: council tax, what guidance has been given to local authorities on whether unauthorised Traveller sites should receive rubbish collection services.

Iain Wright: Local authorities are responsible for the collection and disposal of waste in their local area. Communities and Local Government has not produced guidance on whether unauthorised developments and encampments should receive waste collection services. However, 'Guidance on Managing Unauthorised Camping', published in 2004, gives guidance on dealing with waste and fly-tipping when managing an unauthorised encampment, including the use of Codes of Expected Behaviour.
	Local authorities may want to consider whether the provision of means to enable Gypsies and Travellers on unauthorised encampments to dispose of their rubbish and waste, for an appropriate fee, is appropriate in individual circumstances. Such action was recommended by the Independent Task Group on Site Provision and Enforcement and could help to minimise costs to the authority.

Departmental Correspondence

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many  (a) letters and  (b) e-mails received by his Department had not been responded to as at 15 December 2008.

Si�n Simon: The information requested is as follows:
	  (a) The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. Information relating to 2008 will be published as soon as it has been collated. The report for 2007 was published on 20 March 2008,  Official Report, columns 71-74WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House. When responding to all correspondence the Department abides by the guidance as set out in 'Handling correspondence from MPs, Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies' which was published by the Cabinet office in July 2005.
	  (b) To retrieve the information relating to emails can only be achieved at a disproportional cost.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what percentage of contractors and suppliers to (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have reported that they are compliant with the Government's security standards following publication of the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government, and the accompanying document, Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action, on 25 June 2008.

Si�n Simon: (a) All of the Department's suppliers and contractors who handle personal or sensitive data comply with Government security procedures, and the Data Handling Procedures in Government report.
	 (b) The agencies have passed on the requirements to their contractors, and are monitoring their progress towards full compliance.
	New contracts placed by the Department or its agencies will incorporate the advice issued following the Data Handling report.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many contracts  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; for which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas in the case of each such contract.

Si�n Simon: The controls in place ensure that contractors do not store personal data overseas.

Redundancy

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many staff in his Department left under  (a) involuntary and  (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in each year since 2005-06; how many of them in each case were paid (i) up to 25,000, (ii) 25,001 to 50,000, (iii) 50,001 to 75,000, (iv) 75,001 to 100,000 and (v) over 100,000 in the year before they left; and how much (A) was spent in each of those years and (B) is planned to be spent on such schemes in (1) 2008-09 and (2) 2009-10 by (y) his Department and its predecessor and (z) each of his Department's agencies.

Si�n Simon: The Department was created in 28 June 2007. Since its inception, there were seven early releases in 2007-08, at a total cost of 512,000 and two in 2008-09 at a total cost of 90,000. There are currently no early releases planned for 2009-10. Information related to costs is not available in the form requested and could be obtain only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department has two agencies. The National Weights and Measures Laboratory has not had any early releases during the period requested and none are planned during 2009-10. However, UK-IPO has had early releases. Since 2005-06, 58 people have left under voluntary exit schemes, including four to 31 October 2008 in 2008-09. The breakdown of the value of payments was (i) 24, (ii) 17, (iii) 6, (iv) 2 (v) 9.
	On an accruals basis there were 53 departures for 2005-06 costing 2,571,000, none in 2006-07 and one in 2007-08 at 55,000. Approximately 89 are expected in 2008-09 at an estimated cost of 6,865,000. There are currently no early releases planned for 2009-10. Information related to costs is not available in the form requested and could be obtain only at disproportionate cost.

Students: Finance

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what procedures are in place for informing  (a) students and  (b) recent graduates about the change to student loan interest rates implemented on 5 December 2008.

David Lammy: The Student Loans Company (SLC) published details on the change to student loan interest rates implemented on 5 December 2008 on their website and in national newspapers. Borrowers receive details of new interest rates in their statement each year from the SLC. Information on the interest rate change was also published on the Directgov website.
	Following the latest reduction in the Bank of England base rate by the Monetary Policy Committee on 8 January 2009, all the specified banks(1) have now reduced their base rates to 1.5 per cent. The SLC has therefore now reduced the interest rate for income contingent loans from 3 per cent. to 2.5 per cent. with effect from 9 January 2009 until further notice. The SLC has accordingly published this information on their website and in national newspapers.
	The interest rate for loans taken out before 1998 (known as mortgage style loans) is not affected as these loans are governed by different legislation.
	(1)Bank of England; Bank of Scotland; Barclays Bank PLC; Clydesdale Bank PLC; Co-operative Bank PLC; Coutts  Co; HSBC Bank PLC; Lloyds TSB Bank PLC; Natwest Bank PLC; the Royal Bank of Scotland PLC.

Official Visits: Russia

Mark Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 471W, on official visits: Russia, if he will place in the Library the list of the Secretary of State's engagements during his visit to Russia in October 2008.

Gareth Thomas: A copy of the list of my noble Friend the Secretary of State's engagements during his visit to Russia in October 2008 will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

VAT: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many businesses were registered for VAT in  (a) Castle Point constituency and  (b) Essex in each of the last five years.

Ian Pearson: The number of businesses registered for VAT in Castle Point constituency and in Essex in for the past five years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  VAT-registered businesses at start of year 
			   Castle Point constituency  Essex 
			 2004 2,440 45,460 
			 2005 2,475 46,430 
			 2006 2,565 47,580 
			 2007 2,605 48,485 
			 2008 2,685 49,710 
			  Source: BERR National Statistics publication Business start-ups and closures: VAT registrations and de-registrations 2007 available at: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/vat/index. htm 
		
	
	The number of VAT-registered businesses in Castle Point constituency rose from 2,440 at the start of 2004 to 2,685 at the start of 2008a rise of 10 per cent., compared with a rise of 9 per cent. in both Essex and across the whole of the UK.
	VAT registrations do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which was 64,000 at the start of 2007. Only 1.96 million out of 4.7 million UK enterprises (42 per cent.) were registered for VAT at the start of 2007.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which primary care trusts responded to the survey of exceptional funding requests described in appendix 1 of the report to him by the National Cancer Director, Improving access to medicines for NHS patients, published on 4 November 2008; and, for each primary care trust, what the  (a) number of exceptional circumstances requests made in the last 12 months was,  (b) number of exceptional circumstances requests made for cancer treatment in the last 12 months was,  (c) proportion of all exceptional circumstances requests made in the last 12 months which were approved was and  (d) proportion of all exceptional circumstances requests made in the last 12 months for cancer treatments which were approved was;
	(2)  with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 927-28W, on NHS: drugs, which primary care trusts responded  (a) in full and  (b) in part to the Department of Health survey on exceptional funding procedures; and if he will place in the Library copies of all responses.

Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 24 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 927-28W.

Influenza: Vaccination

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of  (a) people aged over 65,  (b) people in other at risk groups,  (c) health care workers and  (d) poultry workers who received the seasonal influenza immunisation in each of the last five winters.

Dawn Primarolo: Flu vaccination data is in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			   People aged 65 and over  People in clinical at-risk groups  Health care workers  Poultry workers 
			 2007-08 74 45 13.4 14.2 
			 2006-07 74 42 14 13.4 
			 2005-06 75 48 19.4 (1) 
			 2004-05 71 40 15.4 (1) 
			 2003-04 71 (1) 14.8 (1) 
			 (1) Those years when data was not collected or policy was not in place. 
		
	
	England has one of the best uptake rates of the flu jab in Europe for those aged 65 and over.
	This year the Department has reminded health professionals of the importance of protecting younger patients in other risk groups and we will look carefully at the results when final vaccine uptake data for 2008-09 is available.
	In 2008 research was carried out with adults in at-risk groups. It identified that there are a number of challenges to improving vaccine uptake in younger at-risk groups and that because the use of the term 'flu' and 'cold' had become almost interchangeable, flu was not regarded as a serious concern.
	The Department is planning to introduce a new flu vaccination advertising campaign for the 2009-10 flu season. One of the aims of the new advertising approach is to improve targeting of the message to people aged under 65 with long-term conditions, while maintaining uptake rates among those aged 65 and over. These research findings are being fed into the development of the new campaign.
	Uptake among health care workers is low in most developed countries and this is a concern that is not specific to the UK. To address low uptake in health care workers, the Department held a flu conference in June 2008 for flu leads working in PCTs and also in occupational health. The conference focused on sharing ideas for improving vaccine uptake among health professionals.
	We also launched a new flu vaccine leaflet for health care workers and are currently working on a communications strategy that will provide support to occupational health departments in delivering all occupational health vaccinations, because immunising health care workers with the flu vaccine is the responsibility of the employer.
	The poultry workers programme has a slightly different focus to the other seasonal flu programmes. Its purpose is to reduce the risk of a poultry worker being exposed to an avian flu virus at the same time as they were infected with seasonal flu virus. It is theoretically possible that the two viruses could mix to produce a new strain of flu virus which could possibly lead to a pandemic. This programme is primarily aimed at reducing the risk of a pandemic virus emerging in this country.

Local Area Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in meeting the targets set by Local Area Agreements to which Ministers in his Department have subscribed; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: 150 local area agreements (LAAs) covering priorities in every locality in England from 2008-09 to 2010-11 were agreed in June 2008. It is too early to make an assessment of progress against targets in the LAAs but Government offices for the regions will take stock of emerging findings early in 2009. From April 2009, the comprehensive area assessment (CAA) will bring together assessments of performance across each local area and these may apply to anything done by local authorities acting alone or in partnership. It will place particular emphasis on delivery against identified LAA priorities for the local area. The first findings under CAA are likely to be reported in autumn 2009. Data which is used to measure the performance of different places with respect to key Government targets will be available at:
	http://www.fti.communities.gov.uk/fti/Welcome.aspx
	Individual targets were monitored by Government offices for the regions and strategic health authorities but no comprehensive assessment was made against the health targets in the previous rounds of LAAs in place since 2005-06. To do an assessment of the thousands of health-related targets in these LAAs would involve a disproportionate cost to the Department.

Poverty: Children

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's latest estimate is of the number of disabled children living below the poverty line in  (a) the UK,  (b) Wales,  (c) Scotland and  (d) England in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: The available information is shown in the following table.
	Figures for Scotland and Wales are not available due to sample size volatility, while data for the United Kingdom is only available from 2002-03. Figures for Great Britain are available for earlier years and have been provided.
	
		
			  Number (million) of disabled children living in households below 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income (Before housing costs) 
			   England  GB  UK 
			 1997-98 0.2 0.3 n/a 
			 1998-99 0.2 0.2 n/a 
			 1999-2000 0.2 0.2 n/a 
			 2000-01 0.1 0.2 n/a 
			 2001-02 0.1 0.2 n/a 
			 2002-03 0.1 0.2 0.2 
			 2003-04 0.1 0.2 0.2 
			 2004-05 0.1 0.2 0.2 
			 2005-06 0.1 0.1 0.2 
			 2006-07 0.1 0.2 0.2 
			  n/a = Not available.  Notes: 1. These statistics are based on households below average income data which is sourced from the Family Resources Survey. 2. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for households below average Income figures is single financial years. 4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or equivalised) for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. Median incomes are used as the national average in the publication. 5. The figures are based on OECD equivalisation factors. 6. Figures have been presented on a before housing costs basis. For before housing costs, housing costs (such as rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, structural insurance payments and ground rent and service charges) are not deducted from income, while for after housing costs they are. 7. Numbers of disabled children in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 children. 8. The disability definition up to 2001-02 defines disability as having a long-term illness, disability or infirmity that limits the activity of the individual in some way. This definition changed from 2002-03 to be more in line with the Disability Discrimination Act's definition of disability which defines disability as having a long-term illness, disability or infirmity that leads to a significant difficulty with one or more areas of the individual's life. The change in the definition has only a very minor impact on the statistics.  Source:  Households Below Average Income.

Social Security Benefits: Overseas Residence

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 420W, on social security benefits: overseas residence, how many of the 1,700 requests for payment of  (a) the core component of disability living allowance,  (b) attendance allowance and  (c) carer's allowance from those who had previously lived in the UK and are now living in another EEA state or Switzerland have been granted.

Jonathan R Shaw: As explained in my written answer of 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 420W, we are still considering the implications of the European Court's decision on paying disability living allowance, attendance allowance and carer's allowance to people who claim from another EEA state or Switzerland. We will publish the entitlement criteria on the Directgov website as soon as the details have been finalised. As a result, we are not yet in a position to make decisions on individual awards for these customers.

Serious Organised Crime Agency: Assets Recovery Agency

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases the Assets Recovery Agency had under investigation with a view to civil recovery or taxation action in which no action to restrain assets had yet been taken as at 31 March 2008; what the estimated value of the assets under investigation in those cases was; how many of those investigations were subsequently terminated by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency without court action; what the reasons for the termination were in those cases; what the estimated value of assets in terminated cases was; and in respect of such terminated cases, what steps have been taken to remove relevant assets from criminals.

Alan Campbell: Data relating to the transfer of cases from the Assets Recovery Agency to the Serious Organised Crime Agency was not collated to this level of detail, as there would be no operational value and some cost in doing so. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost (through manual collation from case files). SOCA has terminated 10 cases since the merger, in which no Property Freezing Order/Interim Receiving Order or Recovery Order had been granted as at 31 March 2008. The reasons for terminating these cases were:
	no assets to recover (1)
	insufficient evidence to link assets to criminality (5)
	further evidence of criminality foundcase referred for criminal investigation (3)
	case erroneously referredcriminal case still under appeal (1).
	In these cases either there were no assets to recover, or insufficient evidence, or an ongoing criminal investigation which rendered any assets outside the scope of the civil recovery powers.

Serious Organised Crime Agency: Assets Recovery Agency

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases the Assets Recovery Agency transferred to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) on 31 March 2008 in which proceedings for civil recovery on taxation investigation had been initiated; what the estimated value of assets restrained in those cases was; how many of those cases were terminated by SOCA without asset recovery; what the reasons were for termination in each such case; what the estimated value of assets in cases so terminated was; how many such inherited cases not terminated have been completed by obtaining a civil recovery order or consentor; in how many such cases  (a) a tax settlement been agreed and  (b) a judgment from Special Commissioners has been obtained; what the value of such orders and settlements is; and what the value of assets restrained in such cases is.

Alan Campbell: Data relating to the transfer of cases from the Assets Recovery Agency to the Serious Organised Crime Agency was not collated to this level of detail, as there would be no operational value and some cost in doing so. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost (through manual collation from case files). SOCA has terminated one case without recovering assets, where civil recovery proceedings had been initiated as at 31 March 2008. The reason for terminating the case was that there were no assets left to recover. As regards the value of civil recovery orders and tax settlements, figures for SOCA's UK-wide performance on asset recovery for the financial year 2008-09 are subject to internal validation and will be included in its Annual Report for 2008-09, when published.

UK Border Agency: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the UK Border Agency to reply to the letter of 9 December 2008 from the hon. Member for Walsall North, reference P1120638 and CTS of M 20970/8.

Phil Woolas: The regional director for the north-west, Gill Mortlock, wrote to my hon. Friend on 13 January 2009.